1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Engle, Margarita. 2008. THE SURRENDER TREE: POEMS OF CUBA'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805086749
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Cuba, 1896 - The war for Cuba's independence from Spain has spanned three decades. Slaves are ordered to move into "reconcentration camps." Rosa is a small girl at the time with a gift to heal with the flowers and trees around her. Many think of her a witch, but she merely knows the healing power of herbs. Four characters (Rosa, Jose, Lieutenant Death and Silvia, with some mention Lieutenant-General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, Empire of Spain) narrate their unique perspective during the three wars for Cuba's independence.
Rosa tries to survive just to be able to help others; she is sought out for her healing powers. Lieutenant Death wants to kill her and collect her bloody ear. He tortures, slaughters, punishes all runaway slaves, and does not understand why they don't just give up. In the end, Rosa is able to surpass her life by passing on her healing methods to a young girl, Silvia.
Rosa tries to survive just to be able to help others; she is sought out for her healing powers. Lieutenant Death wants to kill her and collect her bloody ear. He tortures, slaughters, punishes all runaway slaves, and does not understand why they don't just give up. In the end, Rosa is able to surpass her life by passing on her healing methods to a young girl, Silvia.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Engle's poetry in THE SURRENDER TREE: POEMS OF CUBA'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM is written in free verse and prose. The characters narrate the long struggle of war, and new characters are introduced along the way: Rosa's friend and husband, Jose, and the young girl who loses everything, but still holds on to hope, Silvia. Engle uses strong imagery in her descriptions of war, slavery, hunger, and disease.
Lieutenant Death describes watching his father work, "But then my father chops each body/into four pieces, and locks each piece in a cage,/ and hangs the four cages on four branches of the same tree."
THE SURRENDER TREE begins with a brief introduction of Cuba's wars and a poem by Jose Marti, the child poet Engle mentions often in the book. After the novel, the author includes a note connecting her family history to Cuba's independence wars, and a Historical note that offers more information on the historical characters. Although Engle's verse novel is fiction, she incorporates historical facts and figures important to Cuba's cause: the horseman who wrote Cuba's freedom song, "La Bayamesa" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwQf-HGYyGs), the lieutenants, presidents, and Rosa (Rosario Castellanos Castellanos), in fact Engle mentions in her Historical Note at the end of the novel, "Silvia and the oxcart driver are the only completely fictional characters." A timeline, selected references, and acknowledgments end the book.
Lieutenant Death describes watching his father work, "But then my father chops each body/into four pieces, and locks each piece in a cage,/ and hangs the four cages on four branches of the same tree."
THE SURRENDER TREE begins with a brief introduction of Cuba's wars and a poem by Jose Marti, the child poet Engle mentions often in the book. After the novel, the author includes a note connecting her family history to Cuba's independence wars, and a Historical note that offers more information on the historical characters. Although Engle's verse novel is fiction, she incorporates historical facts and figures important to Cuba's cause: the horseman who wrote Cuba's freedom song, "La Bayamesa" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwQf-HGYyGs), the lieutenants, presidents, and Rosa (Rosario Castellanos Castellanos), in fact Engle mentions in her Historical Note at the end of the novel, "Silvia and the oxcart driver are the only completely fictional characters." A timeline, selected references, and acknowledgments end the book.
4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS
Americas Award for Children''s and Young Adult Literature, 2009
Claudia Lewis Award, 2009
Cybil Award, 2008
Jane Addams Children''s Book Award, 2009
John Newbery Medal, 2009
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2009
Pura Belpre Award, 2009
Claudia Lewis Award, 2009
Cybil Award, 2008
Jane Addams Children''s Book Award, 2009
John Newbery Medal, 2009
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2009
Pura Belpre Award, 2009
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Mar. 15, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 14))
Many readers will be caught by the compelling narrative voices and want to pursue the historical accounts in Engle's bibliography.
Many readers will be caught by the compelling narrative voices and want to pursue the historical accounts in Engle's bibliography.
Claudia Mills, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Acclaimed Cuban-American poet and author Margarita Engle (The Poet Slave of Cuba) here presents a collection of free verse illuminating a painful and poignant chapter of Cuban history little known to many Americans. Cuba waged a sustained struggle for independence from Spain throughout the 19th century, including three actual wars: the Ten Years War (1868-78), the Little War (1878-80), and finally the war known to Americans as the Spanish American War, which culminated in the heartbreaking conclusion that "Spain has been defeated,/but Cuba is not victorious." Instead, the American flag replaces the Spanish flag, and "[o]ur Cuban flag/is still forbidden." Most of the poems are written in the imagined voice of actual historical figures Rosa Castellanos, a legendary healer, and her husband Jose Francisco Varona; others are in the voices of a slave hunter known as Lieutenant Death and Spanish Captain-General Weyler who is "credited" with the creation of the first modern concentration camp for Cuban peasants. As in most free verse narratives, some of the poems feel less like poetry than prose arranged artfully on the page, but some are heart-piercing gems: "The Little War?/How can there be/a little war?/Are some deaths/smaller than others,/leaving mothers/who weep/a little less?" A valuable and sobering window into the sad past of our misunderstood neighbor.
Acclaimed Cuban-American poet and author Margarita Engle (The Poet Slave of Cuba) here presents a collection of free verse illuminating a painful and poignant chapter of Cuban history little known to many Americans. Cuba waged a sustained struggle for independence from Spain throughout the 19th century, including three actual wars: the Ten Years War (1868-78), the Little War (1878-80), and finally the war known to Americans as the Spanish American War, which culminated in the heartbreaking conclusion that "Spain has been defeated,/but Cuba is not victorious." Instead, the American flag replaces the Spanish flag, and "[o]ur Cuban flag/is still forbidden." Most of the poems are written in the imagined voice of actual historical figures Rosa Castellanos, a legendary healer, and her husband Jose Francisco Varona; others are in the voices of a slave hunter known as Lieutenant Death and Spanish Captain-General Weyler who is "credited" with the creation of the first modern concentration camp for Cuban peasants. As in most free verse narratives, some of the poems feel less like poetry than prose arranged artfully on the page, but some are heart-piercing gems: "The Little War?/How can there be/a little war?/Are some deaths/smaller than others,/leaving mothers/who weep/a little less?" A valuable and sobering window into the sad past of our misunderstood neighbor.
5. CONNECTIONS
*Read other books about slavery and compare the plight of the characters to Rosa.
*Check-out another book about Cuba, such as:
CUBA by Christine and David Peterson
*Check-out another book about Cuba, such as:
CUBA by Christine and David Peterson
*Visit Margarita Engle's webpage for more information about her Cuban history: http://margaritaengle.com/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment